Building Bridges
by Ebony-Jayne
Summary: Rachel walks into her room one night and finds a fairly drunk Santana Lopez sitting on her bed…set a couple weeks after Nationals in the summer break. Pezberry friendship-ish…Brittana pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Building Bridges

**Summary:** Rachel walks into her room one night and finds a fairly drunk Santana Lopez sitting on her bed…set a couple weeks after Nationals in the summer break. Pezberry friendship-ish…I guess it's a bit OOC...

**A/N: **This epic randomness has been banging around in my brain for like two weeks and it's messing with my ability to get the next chapter of my other story 'So Far Gone' written and posted. This'll probably be just a random one shot for the time being but I will probably pick it up later on...or post erratically whenever I feel like it. Hope you all enjoy. Feedback is always nice and much appreciated if you have the time…

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee or it's characters. I am just borrowing…etc etc…

-G-

Rachel sighed into the empty living room. Some summer vacation this was. She was watching TV alone in an empty house on a Saturday night. Finn had sent her a text earlier to let her know that Puck was having a party since his Mom and sister were away, but Rachel had chosen not to go. She knew that Finn wasn't the designated driver tonight and so she would just end up sitting alone all night while he got wasted. Well, that or incur the drunken angry wrath of one Santana Lopez who was still bitterly, bitterly sore over their loss at Nationals; which she now blamed solely on Rachel. So instead Rachel was sitting alone in the living room watching her favourite Streisand movies and eating plain popcorn. As 'Funny Girl' drew to a close Rachel checked her watch and saw that it was nearly 1am. She shut off the TV and took her empty popcorn bowl and her water glass into the kitchen, placing them in the sink, deciding that she would wash them in the morning.

She headed upstairs and into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before bed, humming as she did. She was checking her phone as she walked into her room and so she didn't immediately notice that she wasn't alone. Rachel screamed when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and leapt back toward the door, about to make a run for it when she realised who it was that was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed.

"What the hell Santana?" she gasped, still slightly breathless with fright.

"Heeeey, Berry," Santana slurred, she was clearly pretty drunk.

"Did you break in here?" Rachel demanded, angry and extremely unnerved.

"No," Santana slurred, pushing her messy inky black hair out of her face. "I climbed in the window. It was open," the other girl beamed, swaying slightly.

"Are you going to murder me?" Rachel asked. "Because my room is soundproofed but the door is open so my Dads will certainly hear my screaming," Rachel rambled nervously, pointedly opening the door wider.

"Your Dads are in Costa Rica for two weeks," Santana told her with her signature smirk.

"How did you know that?" Rachel asked, feeling incredibly uneasy now.

"One of your Dads works at the hospital with mine. They've known each other for years," Santana explained, abruptly pitching to one side in her drunkenness.

"Oh so that's how Puckerman always knows when they're away," Rachel mumbled, mostly to herself, as things clicked into place in her head. Santana just smirked.

"Santana why are you here, breaking into my house in the middle of the night?" Rachel asked. Santana's smirk disappeared immediately and the other girl suddenly seemed a little bit more sober than she had been. And a lot more uncomfortable.

"How come you didn't come to Puckerman's tonight?" Santana answered Rachel's question with a question.

"I didn't know he was having a party," Rachel lied.

"Yes you did," Santana argued. "Finnept told me he texted you to tell you it was on. It was just the Glee Club. It was fun. How come you didn't come?" Rachel stared at Santana in confusion. The girl actually seemed upset that she had stayed home.

"Because I didn't feel like being ignored or yelled at all night," Rachel answered quietly. Santana stayed quiet for a moment too, staring at her hands folded in her lap.

"You should have been there," Santana told her in a sad little slurred voice. She looked up from her hands and Rachel was stunned by the sadness in the other girl's dark brown eyes. She had never seen Santana so open before and she edged forward, perching cautiously on the edge of the bed, her body turned toward Santana. Santana immediately unfolded her legs and shuffled forward so that she was mirroring Rachel's position beside her.

"Why Santana? Why should I have been there if you were all just going to make me miserable?" Rachel asked sadly, deciding to take advantage of Santana's sudden openness and try to get some answers. Santana mumbled something incoherent and Rachel leaned closer unable to hear. "I can't hear you Santana," she said softly.

"Because it wasn't the same without you...and because...I wanted to give you something," Santana raised her voice the tiniest bit and Rachel just barely managed to hear her this time. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not sure what to say to that. Santana tried to push her hand into the pocket of her jeans but the alcohol in her system meant she only managed to end up on her butt on the floor next to Rachel's bed. "Damn it!" she yelled, bursting into tears. Rachel knew from her party earlier in the year that Santana was an emotional drunk and she hesitantly slid down onto the floor next to Santana, who was now sobbing angrily as she tried unsuccessfully to get her hand into her pocket.

"Do want me to help?' Rachel asked tentatively. She wanted to touch Santana, hug her or something to stop her crying but she figured that Santana would probably deck her if she did.

"No!" Santana half snapped, half sobbed. "Yes," she changed her mind as her crying began to taper off. "I don't know," her voice slurred badly on the last word and she sniffled. She contemplated a few moments before turning big, wide eyes on Rachel. "Help?" she asked pathetically.

"Ok. What am I looking for?" Rachel asked, fighting a smile as she reached toward Santana.

"It's paper," Santana sniffled a little. Rachel carefully slid her hand into Santana's pocket, capturing what felt like a folded piece of paper and pulling it out. It was a small, slightly crumpled paper heart, about 2 inches wide. "It has a note inside," Santana sniffled again and her words were still a bit slurred, but her eyes were pretty clear. When Rachel moved to unfold the heart Santana's surprisingly warm hand landed on hers. "Read it later," Santana told her, hauling herself to her feet and holding onto Rachel's bed to steady herself. She moved toward the window and against her better judgement, Rachel reached out to grab her arm. Surprisingly, Santana didn't pull away. In fact Rachel could have sworn that she pressed her arm tighter against Rachel's palm. But that could have been the booze...

"Come on," Rachel said softly. "I wouldn't want you falling out of the window and breaking your neck," Rachel tugged at Santana's arm to get her to move from the window toward the door. Santana sighed and let herself be led down the stairs to the front door.

"Goodnight Santana," Rachel said, letting go of Santana's arm to open the heavy wooden door.

"G'night, Berry," Santana's voice held the usual distaste she used when speaking to Rachel but when Rachel looked up she found her dark eyes surprisingly soft. Santana turned abruptly, almost falling down in the process and started walking down the path toward the road.

"Do you want a ride home Santana?" Rachel called out, feeling guilty.

"No thanks, I'm just going to Q's," Santana called back and Rachel nodded. Quinn and Judy Fabray had moved into a smaller house a few doors down from Rachel's after Judy had filed for divorce halfway through the school year.

"Ok," Rachel replied. Santana gave a half assed drunken wave over her shoulder as she reached the sidewalk. Rachel closed the door and leaned against it for a second before she rushed upstairs and into her Dads' room. From here she could watch Santana make her way down the road. After watching the girl until she walked safely up Quinn's driveway and she couldn't see her anymore Rachel went back into her own room, making sure to close the window tightly. She sat on her bed and wondered what the hell that was all about. Santana had seemed almost friendly tonight. Rachel realised that she still had the slightly crumpled paper heart clasped in her fist and she opened her hand, carefully smoothing over the paper, flattening it out on the palm of her hand. She stared at it for a little while, not sure if she wanted to open it. she couldn't fight the feeling that Santana was setting her up to get hurt again. She sighed deeply and turned the heart over, untucking four corners of the heart where they were neatly tucked into folds in the paper. The heart came apart fairly easily and soon Rachel was holding an unfolded note in her hands, confused and simultaneously amused.

_No more slushies. If anyone breaks that rule, they answer to me.-Santana_

_P.S. I'm so going to fold this note into a heart when Tana isn't looking. She thinks giving you a paper heart would be weird but friends can give each other paper hearts...right? It just means you love them because they're your friends. – Love Brittany (Pierce. You know from Glee?)_

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Brittany's rambling add-on but her brow creased again when she re-read Santana's brief note. Why was she doing this? Was she telling her that there would be no more slushies so that she would be more shocked when someone did slushy her? Was she actually reaching out and trying to make amends? The latter just seemed too good to be true. Rachel decided to talk to Brittany at dance class on Monday night. If she used enough big words she could probably confuse Brittany into telling her what Santana was planning. Rachel carefully stowed the note in her bedside table - slightly annoyed that she wanted to fold it up again but didn't know how - before climbing into bed and shutting off the light. As she lay in the darkness awaiting sleep, she briefly wondered what would be awaiting her when school went back in a few weeks time...

-G-

Random, I know. Don't really know where I'm going with it but it'll come to me...haha. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Well the muse has been nice to me and I managed to churn out another chapter :-) thanks for the lovely feedback on the last chapter I really appreciated it!

Santana shows up again a few days later...

-G-

It was Wednesday night when Rachel heard the loud thump upstairs. Her heart immediately jumped into her mouth and she leapt up off the couch.

"FUCK!" a familiar voice echoed through the house and Rachel let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding in with a loud whoosh. As her fear dissipated, anger set in and Rachel made a beeline for the stairs. She stomped up and threw open her bedroom door angrily, which only served to give Santana such a fright that she fell off the bed.

"Santana Lopez!" Rachel yelled angrily, ready to rip the girl a new one for trying to give her two heart attacks in the space of a week. Santana looked up at her, blinking owlishly for a moment. Then her lips began to tremble and her forehead pinched. "Oh no. No don't cry," Rachel pleaded, but she was too late. Santana let out a pitiful drunken wail and then started sobbing from where she was still sprawled on the floor. "Oh Santana," Rachel sighed. "Come on," she dragged the taller girl up off the floor and managed to get her seated on the bed. Rachel could tell just by looking at her that Santana was a lot drunker than last time and when Santana lurched toward Rachel on the bed, the smaller girl caught the smell of black licorice on her breath. "Who had a party on a Wednesday night?" Rachel questioned with a grumble as she manhandled Santana back onto the bed.

"Nobody," Santana slurred, her crying had stopped as abruptly as it had started and Rachel vowed to try and keep from setting her off again.

"Wait," Rachel shook her head. "If no one had a party, where were you drinking?" she asked Santana, who was leaning heavily against her side now.

"At my house," Santana slurred in reply, attempting and failing to glare at Rachel.

"Who was there?" Rachel asked, confused.

"Me...," Santana lurched dangerously toward the floor again, managing to correct herself with Rachel's help. "Myself, and I," she finished. "We had fun," she added. "Obviously."

"You were drinking alone?" Rachel clarified. Santana turned to face her and nodded and Rachel caught the licorice smell on her breath again. "What were you drinking? You smell like black licorice," Rachel told her.

"Galliano," Santana replied. "Black Sambuca."

"Santana why did you get drunk by yourself? That's kind of pathetic," Rachel regretted the words as soon as they came out. Sure enough the forehead pinched, the lips trembled and then Santana was a sobbing mess again. She somehow managed to coordinate herself enough to throw herself into Rachel's lap, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck. Rachel was taken aback, never having been this close to the taller girl before and unsure if Santana would get upset if Rachel hugged her back. She settled for resting her hands lightly on Santana's back and almost immediately Santana relaxed, her cries tapering off to soft sniffles and she lifted her face from Rachel's shoulder to nuzzle her nose against the skin next to Rachel's ear. If she hadn't been so completely unnerved by the unfamiliar, unlikely situation she would have found it incredibly cute.

"I'm...not...path...path...pathetic," Santana sniffled.

"No, you're not pathetic honey. I'm sorry," Rachel soothed nervously.

"I'm just lonely," Santana slowly and unsteadily extricated herself from Rachel's lap and sat next to her, looking embarrassed and incredibly sad. It tugged at Rachel's heartstrings, even though for the most part she only really tolerated Santana because she had to. She had always told herself that there was too much water under the bridge for them to be friends and that Santana would never want it anyway. But seeing her _here, _so lost and vulnerable, it almost made Rachel want to wipe the slate clean and start over. Put the past behind them and look to the future because she could see in the drunken girl's surprisingly expressive eyes that they weren't all that different on the inside. She could see that Santana needed a friend as much as she did.

"Come on," Rachel said softly. She stood up and carefully tugged Santana to her feet, making sure to keep her steady.

"Where we goin'?" Santana asked, wobbling and paling a little as she tried to find her balance.

"Downstairs. I'm going to make you some food and some coffee. Have you eaten anything today?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Santana replied indignantly. "I had chicken salad," her voice slurred in the S consonant and it almost made Rachel giggle.

"When?" Rachel asked.

"I dunno? Lunchtime?" she asked.

"Why are you asking me? I wasn't there," Rachel teased. She laughed lightly when Santana nearly fell over backwards as she tried to push her long black hair out of her face. "Oh Santana, sit down a minute," Rachel sat her on the bed again, making sure she was steady before darting over to her dresser to grab a hair tie. She stood in front of Santana and awkwardly scraped her thick hair back into a ponytail, securing it with the tie. "You have so much hair," Rachel commented as she pulled back.

"Mos' of it's not mine," Santana told her, her slurring seemed to be getting worse and she yawned.

"Yeah you've told us that before," Rachel told her, hauling her back to her feet. She helped the taller girl down the stairs with some difficulty, letting out a sigh of relief when they were both safely at the bottom. "In here," Rachel led Santana into the lounge and sat her on the couch.

"You're watching Anchorman?" Santana asked, squinting at the TV that Rachel had paused when Santana had broken in.

"I was about to when you broke into my house again," Rachel told her. "Wait here," she instructed. "And you tell me if you have to throw up!" she called warningly over her shoulder.

"Yes Sir," Santana called back drunkenly. Rachel laughed and quickly made Santana a cup of coffee, loading it, two water bottles and some crackers and popcorn onto a tray and carrying it out to the living room. "Oooh," Santana clapped her hands like an excited child and Rachel was reminded suddenly of Brittany. She wondered where the blonde dancer was and why Santana wasn't with her. They were best friends and it seemed strange to Rachel that Santana would come to her and not go to Brittany. Something told her not to go there though and so she left it alone.

"So, eat, drink, watch the movie with me and we'll go from there?" Rachel asked, setting the tray on the coffee table and sitting down next to Santana.

"You're nice to me," Santana smiled at Rachel drunkenly and with more fondness than Rachel thought Santana actually possessed. "You're a crazy woman," Santana's expression never changed and Rachel burst out laughing.

"Well, you're actually kind of a sweet drunk Santana," Rachel told her and Santana once again attempted and failed to glare, only managing to screw her face up drunkenly.

"Push play," Santana ordered, settling against the back of the couch. "Smart ass," she was still slurring her S's pretty badly and Rachel just smirked and handed her the coffee before doing as she was told.

Santana fell asleep about two thirds of the way though the movie after finishing her coffee and a whole bottle of water and some popcorn and crackers. Rachel had been worried that it was too much for her stomach and she would throw it all back up, but when she told Santana that the girl had scoffed and claimed that she wasn't a 'throwing up drunk'. When Rachel had brought up their disastrous performance of Tik Tok at the school assembly Santana had blushed and muttered sulkily that that was only because Brittany threw up first and she had thrown up in sympathy. Soon after that Santana had slumped back against the couch fast asleep. Rachel had managed to shift her to lie down and had covered her with a blanket. She finished watching her movie and tidied away the dishes before going back to wake her up.

"Santana," she said softly. "Santana wake up," she shook her lightly and Santana slowly opened her eyes.

"Rachel?" she croaked out.

"Yeah. You fell asleep watching the movie with me. Do you want to stay here or do you want me to drive you home?" Rachel asked gently, aware that Santana was a bit more sober now and likely to get defensive.

"Home, please," she said softly. "I can walk if you don't-," she started but Rachel interrupted.

"It's fine, Santana," Rachel assured her softly. "Do you want some more water for the drive?"

"Yes please," Santana's eyes darted around the room, not making contact with Rachel's.

"Ok. You put your shoes on and I'll get the water and my keys," Rachel headed back out to the kitchen and when she came back a wobbly, sleepy looking Santana was standing by the couch waiting for her. "Lets go," Rachel led Santana through a door into the adjoining garage and unlocked the car, opening the door for the tired and still fairly tipsy girl. They were quiet on the drive over and when Rachel pulled into the driveway Santana didn't immediately get out of the car.

"I don't feel so good," she whispered. Rachel looked at her for a long moment, she wasn't pale or clammy and she didn't look sick and Rachel suspected that maybe it was Santana's way of asking her to come in.

"Are your parents home?" Rachel asked.

"No," Santana replied quietly.

"Want me to come in for a bit?" Rachel asked.

"Only if you want to," Santana replied immediately, strengthening Rachel's earlier suspicion. Rachel just climbed out of the car and moved around to help Santana out. Santana led them to the front door and opened it, letting Rachel go in first.

"Wow. Your house is beautiful. Kind of sterile though," she commented honestly. She turned around just in time to see the tiny smile on Santana's lips. Santana led Rachel silently upstairs to her room, needing Rachel's help to steady herself a few times on the way up. Rachel looked around Santana's slightly messy room and smiled. "This is more like it," she told Santana. Santana just set her water bottle down on the bedside table and disappeared into the hall and into the bathroom. She came back five minutes later, in her pajamas with no make up and smelling like toothpaste. Rachel smiled at her as she moved to sit next to Rachel on the bed. Rachel looked at Santana for a long moment waiting for her to speak and idly wondered who would bother to put on make up when they looked as beautiful as Santana did without it.

"Rachel...I...," Santana started and then stopped with a sigh. She turned her head to face away from Rachel. "Thanks," she said softly.

"It's ok, Santana," Rachel replied. She lifted a hand and hesitated before resting it between Santana's shoulder blades. "I was kind of lonely too," she confessed softly and she felt the slight hitch of Santana's breath under her palm. "I'm going to go home, ok? You need to sleep," Rachel told her. Santana nodded wordlessly and stood leading Rachel downstairs to the front door.

"See you," she said awkwardly.

"Bye Santana. Be careful going up the stairs by yourself," Rachel warned gently.

"I will," Santana promised.

"You can come over anytime Santana," Rachel told her, looking away as she said it.

"Thank you," she could hear the tiny smile in Santana's voice and smiled back at her before heading to her car, leaving Santana to lock up her house and sleep it off.

On the way home Rachel wondered if she would get another surprise visit from Santana any time soon and she found herself hoping against hope that she would.

-G-


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **This whole writing two multi-chap stories at once and trying to work, study and move house may not have been my brightest idea…oh well, I did warn that I'd probably have no degree of regularity with this fic, so…it's short but it's an update. The next one will likely be longer. I really enjoyed writing this one though. There's a lot more freedom when you write a character drunk because drunk people do a lot of things they wouldn't normally do…Anyway…

Another visit…

-G-

"The hell?" Rachel muttered when she woke up enough to register that someone was leaning on the doorbell at 3am on Saturday morning. She heard muffled crying and realised that it must be Santana back again. Rachel bolted downstairs and stood on tiptoes to look through the peephole to make sure that it really was Santana before she opened the door.

"Oh Santana," Rachel sighed softly when she took in the sight of the other girl. "Honey what happened?" Santana's face was dirty and streaked with tears, her palms and knees were grass burned and she had a graze on her chin. Her dress was filthy and slightly ripped on one side.

"Iflellover," Rachel could barely figure out what Santana had just said. She was not drunk this time. She was absolutely train wrecked.

"You fell over?" Rachel verified. Santana nodded.

"Idranwaytoomush," Santana slurred, lurching forward and losing her balance. Rachel wasn't quick enough this time and Santana crashed onto the concrete porch, crying out when she landed on her sore hands and knees.

"Oh," Rachel sighed softly. "Santana," she said softly. She unexpectedly felt a lump rise in her throat as she looked down at the pathetic heap on the porch that was Santana. She was too drunk to even attempt to get back up. She just lay there on the ground, crying quietly. "Come on," Rachel said thickly, reaching down to haul Santana back onto her feet. Her knees were bleeding now and so was one of her elbows. Rachel managed to get Santana over to the couch and sit her down. She slouched to one side and stared straight ahead. "Stay here Santana, I'm going to get you some water and a first aid kit ok?" Santana nodded vaguely but Rachel could see she had no idea what was going on. Rachel grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, some aspirin, a cloth and a bowl of warm water and the first aid kit before heading back to the living room. "Ok sweetheart, drink some water while I fix you up," Rachel opened the bottle and handed it to Santana who only managed to spill most of it on her dress.

"Fuck," she mumbled absently before trying again and actually managing to get the water into her mouth this time. Rachel waited for her to have a few mouthfuls and then took the water away. She wrung out the cloth and gently wiped Santana's grubby face, until all of the dirt and her makeup was gone. She was as gentle as possible when she carefully cleaned the scrape on her chin but Santana still winced in pain. Rachel tried to be as quick and gentle as possible when she cleaned the rest of her scrapes but Santana was whimpering miserably when Rachel finished with her raw knees.

"I'm sorry, there's no way to do this without hurting you," Rachel apologised. "Here," she handed Santana two of the aspirin that she had brought with her.

"S'okay," Santana slurred, taking the pills and managing to get them and a mouthful of water into her mouth without incident.

"I'm going to put some antiseptic on them ok," Rachel told her as she put a rubber glove on.

"Kay," Santana visibly braced herself for the stinging she knew was coming. She hissed through her teeth when Rachel carefully applied the ointment to her scrapes.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Rachel chanted, trying to be as quick as possible.

"Ow," Santana whimpered when Rachel had finished. She stared at her miserably and it made Rachel's heartache. The poor girl was a mess and Rachel was really starting to worry about her now.

"I know," Rachel soothed. She taped some gauze over the scrapes on Santana's knees, palms and elbow but left the one on her chin uncovered. "There," she said when she was finished. "All done. I'm going to put this all away ok?" Santana nodded dejectedly. Rachel put all of the stuff away as quickly as she could and then ran upstairs to get a pillow and blankets from the spare room as well as some spare pajamas from her own room. When she got back downstairs, Santana was lying down on the couch.

"Why won' she be wi'me?" Santana whimpered drunkenly when she realised Rachel was back. "Sh'says sh'lovesme bu' sh'won' be my girlfriend." It took Rachel a few second to decipher that and when she did it all clicked into place in her head. _Why won't she be with me? She says she loves me but she won't be my girlfriend._ That was why she was at Rachel's and not at Brittany's. Brittany had turned her down again.

"I don't know honey. But getting drunk isn't helping is it?" Rachel asked. Sitting Santana up and reaching behind her to unzip her tight dress.

"No," Santana admitted. She made no attempt to take the clothes that Rachel was holding out to her and Rachel sighed. She pushed the strap of Santana's dress to the side and realised that she wasn't wearing a bra. She thought for a second and then slid the t-shirt over Santana's head, pushing her arms down when she tried to get them through the holes.

"Hang on," Rachel told her. "You may not care if I see your boobs right now but you'd kill me in the morning," she grumbled good-naturedly. Santana giggled and slurred something that sounded like 'probably'. Rachel slid her hands into the armholes of the shirt and pushed the straps of her dress down her arms as far as she could. Then she reached under the hem and pulled them down and over Santana's hands. "Now put your arms through," Rachel instructed. Santana did, with some difficulty, then looked down at herself before looking up at Rachel.

"Well done," she slurred, looking suitably impressed.

"Thank you," Rachel replied dryly. "You are wearing panties right?" she asked warily. Santana giggled and nearly fell off the couch.

"O'Course I am. M' not tha' mush of a slut," Santana told her, rolling her eyes.

"Fantastic," Rachel said sarcastically, hauling Santana to her feet and pushing her dress down over her hips with some difficulty given that Santana was apparently even more balance impaired than before. Once the dress was on the floor Rachel sat Santana back down and slid her legs into the flannel pajama pants she had brought down with her. She hauled her back up to pull them up over her hips and then sat the drunk girl back down again, panting slightly but satisfied that she had gotten pajamas on her without incident. She sat down beside her and Santana suddenly reverted back to her dejected, melancholy mood.

"Maybe sh'doesn' really love me," she said sadly, her eyes gazing into Rachel's.

"Honey I'm sure she does. But there's a lot of crap between you guys right now huh?" Rachel was intuitive when it came to other people's relationships and ever since the Landslide performance she had been watching the two cheerleaders, hoping that they would put aside their differences and get together. She had seen Santana running away from Brittany in tears in the hallway and guessed that Brittany had turned her down. But as far as she could tell they had found their way back to being friends but had gotten stuck there. She was surprised to find out that it was Brittany and not Santana who was stalling them.

"So mush shit. So fuckin comli…compi…complicated," Santana looked satisfied when she managed to get the tricky word out.

"Maybe you just need to let her have some space? Some time to figure out how she feels?" Rachel suggested.

"I jus' miss 'er so mush," Santana slurred, her voice trembling and her eyes welling up.

"I know. It must be hard to want to talk to your best friend but not be able to because it's about her," Rachel reached out and held her hand. Santana leaned into her, resting her head on her shoulder and going quiet and contemplative for a while.

"I jus' tol' you my secret," Santana said suddenly, lifting her head off of Rachel's shoulder. She stared at Rachel for a long moment. "Tha' wasn' so bad," she mused.

"That's good. And I'll keep your secret safe," Rachel promised, cringing when it sounded far cornier than she had thought it would. Santana's eyes were full of tears again and in a moment of impressive coordination for someone so drunk, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Rachel's cheek.

"You're so lovely," Santana sighed fondly.

"Bed time Santana," Rachel said softly, blushing at the girl's affectionate words.

"Ok, I'll sleep 'ere," Santana lay down on the couch. "Too drunk fo' stairs," she informed Rachel.

"That's the plan," Rachel fought off a laugh at Santana's drunken observation. She ducked out to the kitchen to grab another water bottle, more aspirin and a bucket out of the cleaning cupboard in case Santana had to throw up. When she got back to the living room Santana was almost asleep. Rachel set the bucket beside her and the other stuff on the coffee table. She picked the blankets up and tucked them tightly around a drowsy Santana. She started to walk away.

"Can I have a goo'nigh' kiss?" Santana asked innocently. "Bri'nay always gives me a goo'nigh' kiss," she said imploringly. Rachel blushed and wrung her hands nervously, unconsciously backing up a few steps. She glanced at Santana and saw her pinched forehead and quivering lips; the telltale signs that she was about to burst into tears.

"Ok, ok," Rachel walked back over to the couch, not wanting to have to deal with a bawling Santana at 4am. "God I hope you're too drunk to remember this," she muttered before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss onto Santana's forehead. Santana smiled lazily and let out a contented sigh, snuggling deeper into the blankets.

"Thank you," she murmured happily. Rachel shook her head and moved to the doorway.

"Goodnight Santana," she called out as she switched the light off. She could already hear soft snores coming from the couch. She switched another light on in the next room, in case Santana woke while it was still dark and needed something, before heading up the stairs to bed sending up a silent prayer that Santana wouldn't remember most of this in the morning. She was too young to die, she thought.

-G-

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well this took a turn for the slightly dramatic…strange how my stories always seem to do that…oh well. They go where they go and I have a feeling this one won't stay this way for that long, although I can't be totally sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

-G-

Rachel was awoken at 8am the next day by the sound of her phone ringing.

"Hello?" she answered sleepily.

"Rachel! Hi," a familiar but unexpected voice greeted her.

"Brittany?" Rachel asked, confused.

"Yeah," Rachel suddenly registered the worry in the blonde girl's voice. "Rachel I know you probably haven't but have you seen or heard from Santana? She was meant to go home with Quinn last night but she disappeared and Q thought she'd gone home with Puck but he said that the last time he saw her she was walking home and she was really drunk and she had fallen down and hurt herself and now we don't know where she is and -," Brittany was talking at warp speed without stopping for breath and it was hard for Rachel's tired, half asleep brain to keep up.

"Brittany!" she interrupted.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Santana's fine. She's here," Rachel told her.

"Oh thank God," Brittany breathed. "I thought something had happened to her," the blonde's voice cracked a little with the sheer relief she felt at finally knowing that her best friend was safe. "No offense but why did she come to you?" coming from anyone else it probably would have been offensive to Rachel but there was no malice in Brittany's voice, just curiosity.

"No idea," Rachel replied. "But this isn't the first time," she told Brittany.

"Wow, really?" Brittany asked, clearly surprised.

"Really," Rachel replied. "She was here last Saturday night and on Wednesday too."

"But there was no party on- Wait," Brittany cut off her own train of thought. "She was drinking alone again?" Brittany sounded absolutely wounded on the other end of the phone.

"Apparently," Rachel replied.

"How bad was she last night?" Brittany asked sadly.

"Bad. She could barely walk and she was covered in dirt and grass burns and scrapes. Then she fell over on my porch and scraped her knees and elbow," Rachel said gently. She heard Brittany's breath hitch and knew what the other girl was thinking. "It isn't your fault Brittany. It isn't. You have every right to take some time to think about your feelings. It sounds like you've given her enough time. It's not your fault that she's not coping so well," Rachel told her, hoping the blonde wouldn't be upset with her meddling.

"How do you know about all that?" Brittany asked, her voice suddenly unreadable.

"Some of it I figured out on my own, some of it she told me last night," Rachel replied honestly.

"She told you?" Rachel couldn't hold back a smile at the wonder and pride she heard in Brittany's voice.

"She was drunk at the time, but yeah," Rachel told her.

"Wow," Brittany breathed. She was silent for a long few moments and Rachel waited patiently for her to speak again.

"Britt-," she began but Brittany cut her off.

"I want to be with her. I do. It's what I want the most in the entire world. But it's SO hard. I don't want to hide anymore but she just isn't ready to be out. She's so, so afraid of what will happen. I think she thinks that the world is going to just, like, explode if people find out. I don't know what to do," Brittany suddenly poured her heart out and it occurred to Rachel that she probably had no one to talk to about this too.

"There's people at school who would make it hard but she's a tough girl, she could handle that and Glee Club would definitely be there to support her," Rachel thought out loud. "Brittany how do you think her parents would react?" she asked.

"Well," Brittany said slowly. "A few years ago I was upset because Santana and I were kissing for the boys at a party and Quinn told me that it was bad and I shouldn't do that because I'd go to hell. But I liked it and I was confused and my parents were on vacation. Santana was taking a nap and so I asked her Mom about it. I didn't tell her it was Santana that I liked kissing, I just said 'girls' and her Mom knew I think, but she didn't ask she just told me that there's nothing wrong with liking that. That that's just how some people are and it's ok," Brittany's voice got excited as she continued with her story. "Then Santana's Dad came in and Maria told him what I asked and he said that love is the same no matter if you're a guy and a girl or two girls or two guys," Brittany finished.

"Have you told Santana that?" Rachel asked, a little amazed.

"No. She would be so, so, so, so, so mad at me for doing that," Brittany's voice became higher pitched with fear.

"Maybe, but only for a little while. But when she was finished being mad then maybe she wouldn't be so scared," Rachel pointed out. Brittany was quiet a while, contemplating.

"May-be," she dragged the word out slowly. "But I hate when she's mad at me."

"Just have a think about that ok Brittany? Would you do that for me?" Rachel asked.

"Ok. I'll discuss it with Lord Tubbington, he's a good listener," Brittany told her. "Kind of like you," Rachel had been so busy shaking head at the idea of Brittany having a serious conversation with her cat that she almost missed the compliment.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You're nice when you're not at school Rachel. You listen to what other people say and you're not annoying. If you were like this at school, people wouldn't be so mean to you. I mean Quinn might but that's just because she has a truckload of issues, but that's not your fault," Brittany informed her and Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the casual way in which she said it. "Did you fix Santana up?" Brittany suddenly asked. Her tone worried again.

"Of course I did," Rachel told her. "I cleaned her up and put ointment and gauze on her scrapes and tucked her into bed with some water and aspirin."

"Thank you," Brittany said softly, relieved that Santana had been in good hands last night.

"It was nothing, really," Rachel downplayed it.

"Not to me," Brittany told her softly and Rachel felt that lump in her throat again at the gratitude in those three words. "To me it's everything."

"Brittany-," Rachel began softly.

"I have to go, Rachel," Brittany sounded choked now. "Tell her to give me a text if she wants to be picked up ok?"

"Ok," Rachel reassured her.

"Bye," the word came out as an almost sob and then Rachel heard a dial tone.

"Bye Brittany," she said softy before hanging up the phone. She looked up to find Santana standing in her doorway...

-G-

"That was Brittany," Rachel said nervously, wondering how much of that conversation the other girl had heard. "Her and Quinn were worried because you disappeared from the party last night." Rachel fidgeted and avoided eye contact with Santana, sure that the other girl was going to get angry.

"Shit," Santana said meekly. "I didn't hear much," she shrugged, as if reading Rachel's mind. "Just you saying you patched me up and tucked me in. Thanks for that," Santana shifted nervously.

"It was no problem really," Rachel shrugged, still avoiding eye contact, terrified that Santana would remember her kissing her goodnight last night if she looked into her eyes.

"Still," Santana cocked her head then her lips quirked up in a devious smile. "I made you kiss me goodnight didn't I?" she asked. Rachel choked a little and blushed bright red. "Don't worry, that's not a new one for me, apparently I like to make Q do it when she takes care of me when I'm trashed too." she shrugged. Rachel still felt like she was treading on eggshells. Like one wrong move and this mellow, slightly worse for wear Santana would be replaced by the fiery, cruel, nasty one from school.

"I was worried you'd be mad," Rachel said softly.

"I'm not," Santana shrugged. "Can I come in?" she asked awkwardly.

"S-sure," Rachel stammered a little bit. Santana pushed off of the doorframe, staggering a little bit before finding her balance. She lifted a hand to her temple and cringed.

"God I must have been drunk last night," she muttered. She slowly made her way across the room and perched on the edge of the bed next to Rachel.

"You were extremely drunk last night," Rachel told her. She cringed a little at the smell of stale booze that still lingered around Santana.

"Sorry," Santana noticed the cringe and looked apologetic. "I probably really don't smell good right now."

"You smell like stale alcohol and antiseptic," Rachel stated before she could sensor herself. "Sorry," she added. Santana just laughed lightly.

"So...," she started. "Which secrets did I spill last night?" she asked nervously. Rachel looked up and saw that she was terrified of the answer. "I always tell people something. What did I tell you?" Santana pressed for an answer.

"The big one, I think," Rachel answered honestly. Santana visibly paled.

"Brittany?" she clarified, her voice trembling slightly.

"Brittany," Rachel nodded.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Santana looked panicked and a little bit like she was going to throw up.

"It's ok Santana," Rachel said softly. "I already knew most of it, and I won't tell anyone," she promised.

"What did I say?" Santana asked her, still panicked.

"That you don't understand why she doesn't want to be with you. That she loves you but she doesn't want to be your girlfriend," Rachel told her.

"Ok, oh my god," Santana was shaking slightly and looked like she was about to cry. "I can't believe I told you that. It was bad enough that I spilled my guts and told you I was lonely on Wednesday and now I told you this? You're going to use it to destroy me at school aren't you? Aren't you?" Santana was trying for angry and accusing but all she could summon up was panicked and desperate.

"Santana!" Rachel scolded indignantly, moving to stand in front of the other girl. "I would never do that! I'm offended that you even think that I would! I have two gay dads. Of all people I would be one to know that 'outing' is no joke! It's a serious thing with potentially serious consequences for the person who gets outed. I would never ever do that to you! Or anyone. Don't you accuse me of that again!" Rachel realised that at some point during her rant she had reached out and grabbed hold of Santana's jaw, her thumb just behind the graze on one side of her chin and her fingers splayed out along the other side. She let go abruptly. "Sorry," she said quickly, tucking her hand safely behind her. Santana stared up at her, her eyes were like saucers and she was still shaking and as pale as someone with her Latina colouring could get.

"Santana," Rachel breathed gently. "Do you want me to take you home?" she asked softly, knowing that Santana would in no way want to stick around after this. But the other girl gave no response. "Or I could call Brittany to come and get you? Or Quinn," she quickly amended when Santana flinched at Brittany's name. "Or even your Mom or someone?" Santana remained stock still, staring straight ahead, her face shocked. "Santana please! Say something!" Rachel pleaded. "Tell me what to do! Please, Santana, you're scaring me," Rachel reached out to touch Santana's arm and was actually relieved rather than upset when Santana suddenly unfroze and viciously smacked her hand away.

"No!" she yelped fearfully. Rachel recoiled despite her relief and Santana suddenly pulled her hand back and stared at Rachel in horror. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I didn't mean to do that." Rachel smiled a little in understanding. "I have to go," Santana turned and took off out of the room, thundering unsteadily down the stairs. Rachel followed, hoping against hope that Santana didn't fall before she reached the bottom. By the time Rachel got to the bottom of the stairs Santana had reached the couch and had stripped off the pajamas Rachel had lent her and was wriggling back into her dress.

"Sorry!" Rachel shrieked, whipping around and blushing profusely when she caught sight of the half naked girl in her living room. Santana didn't reply, she just finished pulling her dress on, folded Rachel's pajamas and placed them on the blankets she had folded earlier, then picked up her shoes and other belongings and brushed past the smaller girl, heading for the door. She made eye contact with Rachel for the briefest second and Rachel caught a strange look of detached panic and something she couldn't place in her eyes that made her stomach turn.

"I…Thanks for last night, Rachel. I have to go," she said quickly.

"Santana," Rachel reached out, trying to grasp her arm but Santana yanked it away.

"I have to go!" she cried out desperately, her voice was panicked and tears were welling in her eyes.

"Ok," Rachel spoke soothingly, realising how badly Santana was freaking out. The other girl seemed to calm slightly as she turned back to open the door. "I'm here," Rachel spoke up again, causing Santana to freeze in place. "I swear on Barbra that your secret is safe with me Santana, and if you need a friend, or a hug or anything. I'm here," Rachel told her, the words coming out rushed and quieter than she meant them to. Santana didn't speak but Rachel saw her shoulders begin to shake. She looked back at Rachel again with that look in her eyes that Rachel couldn't place then she opened the door and silently slipped out, leaving Rachel alone, wondering if that would be the last of her visits from Santana.

Considering how bad Santana had been last night she hoped that if she did come back the girl wouldn't continue with her pattern of turning up in worse condition each time. If she kept that up then sooner or later Rachel would be driving her to the ER to get her stomach pumped and she really didn't like that idea at all. Rachel really wanted to text Santana to reaffirm her words to her as she left, but unfortunately she didn't have her number. She considered asking Quinn or Brittany but she didn't want to alert either of them to the fact that something was up. Well, she didn't want to alert _Quinn _to the fact that something was up and she didn't want to do anything to upset the obviously tenuous balance between Brittany and Santana.

After a few minutes of contemplating what to do Rachel suddenly remembered that after Santana's second visit the other girl had added her as a friend on Facebook. She ran upstairs to her room and booted up her laptop, wringing her hands as it took its sweet time to load. Once it had, she logged into Facebook and clicked to bring up the window to send a new private message. She typed Santana's name in the 'To' box and then hesitated trying to figure out what to write in the message box. After a while the words came to her.

_Santana,_

_I meant what I said. I'm here if you need a friend. I could kind of use one too you know? Your secret is safe with me. _

_-Rachel_

-G-

Will it be the last visit? Watch this space...

I have precious little idea where I'm going with this. I'm just letting it lead and going with it. Which isn't what I usually do but judging by the huge response I've gotten (alerts almost DOUBLED after I posted the last chapter! Thanks so much for that.) It's working for me so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and hope it works out.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Next instalment, apologies for the amount of time it took to get up and I hope you enjoy. I vaguely know where I'm going with it now. A little angsty for now but rest assured that's not going to last that long…

-G-

To Rachel's shock, Santana came back that night. Rachel was heading off to bed and as she went to check that the front door was locked she heard rustling outside. She stood up on her tiptoes and looked through the peephole but she couldn't see anyone. She was about to call her neighbour Mr Bradley to come and check it out for her when she heard a sniffle and a familiar quiet sob. Leaving the chain on the door, Rachel opened it carefully, peering through the gap.

"Santana?" she called out softly. The other girl was sitting on the step, her head resting on her knees and she jumped and whipped around when Rachel spoke. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Rachel pushed the door closed and took the chain off quickly before opening the door all the way. "Do you want to come in?" Santana sniffled and nodded, standing on wobbly legs and moving past Rachel and into the house. Rachel was surprised when she couldn't smell alcohol on the other girl this time. She closed and locked the door and led Santana into the lounge, sitting her on the couch. As she sat down next to her she brushed Santana's bare arm and realised that the other girl was freezing cold. "Santana you're frozen," Rachel said, concerned. She pulled the throw off of the back of the couch and wrapped it around Santana's shoulders, tucking it around her tightly in an attempt to warm her. Santana looked up at her and Rachel swore she felt her heart break. Santana's eyes were red rimmed and puffy, along with her cheeks, her nose was bright red and running a little and her cheeks were stained with tear tracks, both fresh and dry. She looked like she had been crying for hours. Rachel grabbed the box of tissues off of the coffee table and offered them to Santana who took one and rubbed at her nose. Rachel wordlessly pulled out another tissue and gently reached up to wipe at the tears on Santana's cheeks before gently brushing back stands of damp black hair that had plastered to her face, surprised when Santana let her.

As Santana reached up to wipe her nose again, Rachel noticed two band aids on her wrist. It was then that she really took in Santana's physical appearance. She was still wearing her dress from that morning; she had no jacket on, no shoes and with one foot crossed over the other Rachel could see that the soles of her feet were filthy. She had no purse with her and apparently no phone, wallet or keys of any kind. She was a total mess. More so even than when she was totally plastered the night before. Rachel carefully reached out and caught Santana's arm, pulling it into her lap and stroking over the band aids with her thumb. Santana let out a sob and tried to pull her arm away. Rachel held on, still stroking soothingly over the band aids.

"It's good you came back here," Rachel said softly, she tried to keep her voice level but it came out choked and unsteady. "Come on," Rachel pulled Santana to stand and led her out of the lounge, up the stairs and into her room. She sat her on the bed while she gathered up a pair of sweatpants that were big on her and an old, comfy, worn t-shirt. Rachel tucked the clothes under one arm and tugged Santana back up off the bed with her other hand. She led her into her en suite and sat her down on the closed lid of the toilet, setting the clothes on the lid of the wicker hamper next to the vanity. Santana remained silent and had gone listless, just allowing Rachel to guide her to wherever she wanted her. She had stopped crying aside from the occasional sniffle and Rachel found it supremely off putting. She carefully peeled the dressings she had applied to Santana's wounds the night before away from her tan skin, careful not to hurt her, inspecting each one carefully as she went. She left her wrist until last.

"Santana?" she asked gently, finally breaking the long silence between them. Santana's eyes flitted toward hers but stopped just short of making contact. "Can I see?" Rachel asked, stroking her thumb over the band aids again. Santana nodded tiredly and pushed her wrist toward Rachel a little. Rachel carefully peeled the band aids back and stared at Santana's wrist, confused, having expected to find something a lot more sinister hiding beneath the thin plastic and gauze strips. "Santana how did this happen?" she asked, tracing the skin around the outside of the small burn, careful not to touch it. She lifted Santana's chin when the other girl didn't answer, trying to get her to meet her eyes. Santana refused and Rachel sighed, deciding to just leave her be for the time being. She moved away from Santana and turned the shower on; turning it to the temperature she liked before reaching to grab a clean towel off of a shelf. She set it on top of the pile of clothes. "Take a shower Santana. Use whatever you want in there," Rachel said softly, gesturing to the various toiletries littering the bottom of the shower stall. She pulled a spare toothbrush out of the drawer and set it on the vanity. "For you," she told the other girl, before sighing and leaving her to it.

It took more than five minutes after Rachel left the bathroom and sat on her bed to wait for her to hear the flow of water shift to indicate that Santana had actually gotten into the shower. She sighed with relief when she heard it and lay back, contemplating her next move. She needed to redress the nastier of Santana's grazes and do something about that burn, but then what? She found her mind drifting to that burn. Rachel mentally kicked herself for immediately jumping to conclusions when she saw the band aids on Santana's wrist. She had gone straight to self harm or a suicide attempt, even though that was totally out of character for the stoic cheerleader. Although when she thought about it, the way Santana had whimpered and tried to pull her arm away from Rachel hadn't exactly gone a long way to assuage her fears. But it was just a tiny burn. A small oval red mark with a slightly smaller blister in the middle. Why would Santana be so ashamed of that? She could have done it to herself she supposed, but when she thought about it more her reaction to Rachel touching it in the lounge could have just been pain. Pure and simple. Rachel huffed and closed her eyes turning her brain off and paying close attention to the sounds coming from the bathroom instead, slightly afraid that in her drained, exhausted and hung over state that the girl would keel over in the shower or something silly.

-G-

Santana finished her shower and robotically towelled herself off and got dressed in the clothes that Rachel provided for her, wincing as the material of the sweatpants clung to her raw knees. She didn't want to go back out into that bedroom and tell the other girl what had happened when she had gone home that day. She didn't want to tell her why she was back. But at the same time, in some bizarre and twisted way that was _all _she wanted to do. She slowly and thoroughly towelled her long hair dry and then combed the knots out as best she could with her fingers. She managed to kill a little more time by brushing her teeth and then putting her hair into a careful French braid that ran down the middle of her head and down her back. She realised that she had nothing to hold it with and so she bit the bullet, pinching the end of the braid between her fingers and opening the door to Rachel's room.

-G-

Rachel looked up when the door opened and smiled when she saw Santana standing shyly in the doorway, in too short sweatpants with the end of her braid held between her thumb and forefinger.

"Oh, here," Rachel jumped up and headed over to her dresser, grabbing an elastic tie from a container. She moved back over and held it out to Santana, who took it with a tiny smile.

"Thanks," Rachel beamed when Santana spoke for the first time since she had arrived. Santana secured her hair and flicked the braid back over her shoulder and Rachel was suddenly struck by how young she looked.

"Come on. Let me fix up your knees," Rachel told her, leading her to where she had set up her first aid kit on her bed. She sat Santana down and carefully rolled the sweatpants up over her knees. "Oh!" she suddenly remembered. She reached over, sliding her hand under her pillow and pulled something out, hiding it in her cupped hands so that Santana couldn't see it. "I got something for you," she smiled. "To cheer you up," she said sweetly and Santana couldn't help the small smile that crossed her own lips.

"What is it?" she finally asked when Rachel made no move to show her. Rachel smirked as she slowly opened her hands to reveal a Cadbury Creme Egg sitting in her palms. She flicked it deftly into one palm as she picked up one of Santana's hands in her now free hand and then placed the chocolate egg delicately into the other girl's hand as if it were a real egg.

"For you," she said in the same sweet voice from earlier.

"Thank you," Santana said softly.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded, avoiding eye contact. "Ok. Let me redress your knees, elbow and left hand. Your right looks ok today," Rachel told her. She made quick work of redressing Santana's wounds and even placed a small, slimy burn dressing that Santana didn't like very much over her blister before covering it with another dry one. "There," Rachel said, surveying her work proudly. "I'll show you to the guest room," she told Santana when the other girl began fidgeting uncomfortably on her bed. She led Santana to the guest room, fighting a smile when she noticed her egg still carefully cupped in her hand. She brushed past Rachel, setting her treat on the nightstand and climbing into the large bed. Rachel waited until she was settled before turning off the light. "Night Santana," she called softly.

"Night," came an almost inaudible reply from the darkness. Rachel closed the door, deciding to leave the hall light on in case Santana needed something in the night, before heading back to her own room. She cleared away the rubbish from her bed and repacked the first aid kit, setting it on her dresser before climbing into her own bed. As she lay in the darkness she wondered if Santana would still be there in the morning or if she would disappear while Rachel was asleep.

-G-


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hi all. I'm still alive and still working on this story too. For all still reading I thank you for your amazing patience! And thanks to all for reviewing and favouriting and all the rest. It's awesome to have that feedback! Hopefully I will be more regular with updating now that I'm back in the swing of things.

This chapter: Rachel tries to help out…this one is a bit lighter on the Pezberry friendship and has a little more Brittana.

-G-

"Hey Brittany. It's Rachel," Rachel said softly.

"Rachel?" Brittany replied sleepily on the other end of the phone. "What's going on?"

"Santana's here again. I'm worried about her," Rachel told her.

"What happened?" Rachel could hear rustling, presumably Brittany's covers as she sat up in bed, suddenly more awake.

"She was dirty and freezing and she had burned herself on something. She was really upset. And sober," Rachel told her, keeping her voice low as she watched the door to the guestroom where Santana was still asleep. She wasn't sure if she should be calling Brittany right now but she was so worried and she just didn't know what else to do.

"What's your address? I'm coming over," Brittany's voice was urgent and Rachel could hear her moving around her room, probably getting dressed. Rachel quickly rattled off her address. "I know where that is, it's just down from Quinn's right?" Brittany verified.

"That's right," Rachel affirmed, nodding despite knowing that Brittany couldn't see her.

"I'll be there really soon ok?" Brittany told her. "Is she still asleep?" she asked.

"Yes she is," Rachel replied, leaning a little to peek through the slightly ajar door to check that in fact Santana was still asleep in the bed.

"Ok, if she wakes before I get there try to keep her there ok?" Brittany instructed.

"Ok," Rachel agreed.

"Great. I'll see you soon Rachel," Brittany hung up and Rachel tucked her phone into her pocket and got up from her seat on the top stair, shifting to sit on her bed instead and wait for Brittany to arrive. She arrived less than ten minutes later, texting Rachel to let her know she was there rather than ringing the doorbell in case Santana was still asleep.

"Hi," Rachel greeted when she opened the door.

"Hey," Brittany gave a tight smile. "Is she still sleeping? Is she ok?" she asked worriedly, her eyes scanning the around looking for the other girl.

"Yeah she's still sleeping. I don't know how she is today. She seemed to be coming right a little last night when she went to bed," Rachel told the other girl.

"Tell me what's been going on? When did she start coming here?" Brittany's voice had become demanding with a worried edge to it and Rachel led her to the living room to explain. She started with finding Santana in her room on the night of Puckerman's party and ended with when she had shown her to the guestroom the previous night. Rachel struggled to keep eye contact with Brittany, not liking the depth of the pain in her eyes. Brittany was quiet a little while, seemingly processing all that Rachel had told her. She opened to mouth to say something but a quiet voice behind them interrupted.

"Brittany?" Santana's still sleepy voice was laced with confusion. "Why are you at Rachel's?"

"I came to see you," Brittany replied simply, leaving out the part where Rachel had called her. As Santana came closer to the couch Brittany visibly flinched at the sight of the scrapes on her hands and chin.

"Oh," Santana had reached the front of the couch now and she seemed to debate for moment before wriggling herself into the small gap between Rachel and the arm of the couch. Rachel was flicking her gaze back and forth between the two of them watching carefully and she didn't miss the hurt look that momentarily flashed on Brittany's face when Santana chose to keep Rachel between them instead of sitting next to her. Santana seemed to not notice and rubbed at her face before squinting at Brittany through sleep-bleary eyes. "Why did you want to see me?" she asked.

"I miss you. I miss my best friend," Brittany replied honestly, her voice a little wobbly.

"You don't have to miss me," Santana said sharply.

"Santana I'm not trying to hurt you!" Brittany's tone was desperate and broken.

"Well you are," Santana kept her eyes locked forward and spat the words out in the same sharp tone as before. "You're hurting me because you are putting unrealistic expectations on me and then _punishing _me when I can't meet them! That's a pretty horrible thing to do to someone you consider your 'best friend', Brittany." Rachel could see as plain as day that Santana felt hurt and that since Brittany, in her mind, was the cause of the hurt, she was trying to hurt her back. And succeeding. Rachel didn't think she had ever seen someone look as devastated and hurt as Brittany did as Santana's words sunk in.

"Santana that's not fair of you to say. You do that too," Brittany finally replied, visibly struggling to hold herself together. "You know I'm an open person. You know I don't like to hide who I am. And that's what you're making me do. You're making me hide. Like you're ashamed to be with me. I thought when you told me you loved me that you were ready to really _be _with me. But then you went straight back in the closet and wanted to hide again!" Brittany voice was rising and breaking by the end and Rachel decided to try and mediate the situation a little bit.

"Can I say something? As someone on the outside of all of this?" she asked hesitantly, surprised when both Brittany and Santana nodded, Santana even looking slightly eager.

"I don't think either of you are really _listening_ to one another right now. You are both doing things that are hurting the other. Brittany, what will your family say if you tell them you're in love with Santana?" she asked, picking her words carefully so as not to slap a label on Brittany that she might not be comfortable with.

"They'll be happy for me. My Uncle is gay. They all love him. It'll be fine," Rachel watched Brittany's face carefully as she spoke, and she could see that Brittany fully believed what she was saying.

"So they're very open and accepting?" she verified.

"Yeah," Brittany nodded.

"Santana what about your family? What do you think will happen if you tell them you love Brittany?" Rachel felt Santana flinch violently beside her.

"My Mami's family will _hate _me," she said softly. "You should hear them talk about Rachel's Dads," she spoke directly to Brittany now. "They think they are absolute scum and that Rachel should be taken away from them and their 'abhorrent' lifestyle. Sorry Rachel," she said softly at the end. Rachel took it in her stride having grown up hearing a lot of that kind of crap from people in Lima.

"What about your parents?" Rachel pressed.

"I don't know. They always say that Mami's family are ridiculous and hateful and that they don't see how it's their business whether or not two grown men have a loving relationship and a child," she shrugged. "I think they'd be a little shocked. I don't know," she shrugged again.

"Brittany, can you see why Santana is so reluctant to come out now?" Rachel asked. "You have no doubt that your family will accept you. Santana has no doubt that many of her family members wont." Brittany, who was looking at Santana carefully now, her eyes a lot softer and less upset than they had been, nodded in response. "And Santana can you see why Brittany doesn't feel like it's as big a deal as you do?" Santana nodded. "Great! That's a start. Now you can start finding ways to maybe compromise," Rachel said excitedly, proud of what she had achieved with them.

"Like what?" Santana asked carefully. Brittany beamed proudly at her and Santana smiled shyly back.

"Well, why don't you go on a date? Maybe to Breadstix and a movie?" Rachel asked. "No one else has to know it's a date but you two y'know," she said at the look on Santana's face. "Movie theatres are pretty dark, and everyone is too busy watching the movie to notice who is holding whose hand in the audience."

"I think, maybe I could do that," Santana said carefully. Brittany's face could have lit up the whole of Ohio at that.

"Britt," Rachel called her attention to her.

"Yes?" Brittany replied, distracted by Santana folding in on herself and being incredibly adorably shy next to Rachel.

"Look at me Britt," Rachel smiled in exasperation. Brittany pulled her eyes away from Santana to look at Rachel. "You have to stop looking at how far Santana has to go and start seeing how far she's come instead. She sang with you in Glee Club, she told you she loved you, she told _me _she loved you. That's huge. I bet she wouldn't have even considered doing that a year ago," Rachel guessed.

"And she told Holly she was questioning her sexuality. And she sang me a love song to cheer me up when I was sad. Even if it was only in front of the creepy piano guy," Brittany said softly, staring reverently at Santana as she did. She slowly crept out a hand, reaching over Rachel and holding it out palm up in front of Santana. Santana hesitated before taking it in hers, squeezing gently. Brittany kept her hand stretched out over Rachel for a moment before pulling Santana's hand closer to her with a frown.

"What happened Santana?" she asked gently, stroking her thumb lightly over the dressing on her wrist. Santana promptly pulled her hand away from Brittany's and back into her lap.

"It's stupid," She replied softly.

"That's ok, I have stupid accidents all the time," Brittany said softly, her voice lifting almost into a coo. "Remember when the mousetrap broke my little toe?"

"Yeah," Santana giggled slightly. Brittany cocked her head expectantly. "I was upset. I wanted to make a cup of the chamomile tea you gave me. I was crying and my eyes were blurry and I burned myself on the electric jug when I went to pick it up 'cause I couldn't see properly," She admitted.

Brittany moved to kneel in front of her, picking up her hand again and raising it to her lips to gently place a kiss over the dressing. Rachel watched, entranced, as Santana blushed furiously at Brittany's actions.

"Wanna come over to my house and watch Disney movies? We can watch Despicable Me? I know you love the minions?" Brittany tried to tempt Santana.

"Maybe not today Britt," Santana said gently.

"Aw," Brittany said sadly.

"I just…I don't know Brittany. I need some time Ok?" Santana kept her voice gentle but the strain was evident. Things were better between them but they were far from ok and Santana needed a little time to figure out what she wanted - what she needed – from Brittany.

"Ok," Brittany nodded. Her bottom lip was threatening to slip into a pout but Brittany dutifully controlled it, knowing that that was not what Santana needed from her right now. She needed space and Brittany would give it to her. "Ok. But San, where are you going to go tonight? I don't like it when you're home alone when you're sad," Brittany asked.

"Are your parents away? You can stay here again if you'd like?" Rachel cut in.

"My Mom's away and my Dad is hardly home 'cause of his job," Santana said quietly. "Is it really ok for me to stay?" she asked shyly.

"Sure. My Dad's are away. It'd be nice to have some company, even if you just want to stay in the guest room," Rachel told her.

"Thank you," Santana's voice was still shy and that made Rachel feel weird. It wasn't like Santana to be so quiet.

"I should go home. My Mom will wonder where I've gotten to," Brittany told them, standing and brushing off her knees.

"Bye Britt," Santana said, not making a move to stand or walk Brittany out. It baffled Rachel for a moment until she realised that Santana didn't want to be alone with Brittany.

"Bye Santana," Brittany leaned down and placed a kiss on top of Santana's head. Rachel led Brittany out to the foyer and opened the door for her. Brittany moved to step through it but then stopped and turned to Rachel. "Thank you," she whispered, leaning in to kiss Rachel's cheek. She moved to step through the door again but again she paused and turned back. "I know that you don't eat it, but she likes Kraft macaroni and cheese to eat and apple juice to drink when she's sad," Brittany told her, an edge of pleading in her hushed voice.

"I'll take care of her," Rachel promised keeping her own voice quiet.

"Can you call me once she's sleeping? So I know she's ok? I'm so worried about her. She isn't herself," Brittany asked.

"Sure," Rachel nodded.

"Thank you Rachel," Brittany said again before turning and walking out of the door. Rachel closed it behind her and took a few deep breaths before heading back to the living room, expecting to find a very closed off Santana waiting for her.

-G-

A/N2 More Pezberry friendship action next chapter :-)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I really haven't given up on this one or the other one (So Far Gone). My laptop is just SO screwed up. I write whenever I can get it to boot up and stay on for more than ten minutes but it's getting increasingly worse. I had to rewrite parts of this one multiple times because the damn thing shut off abruptly and I lost big chunks of it.

Thanks to all still bearing with me on this and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think something of a break from the tenseness and drama in the next chapter with some drunk fun…

-G-

"Hey," Santana said softly when Rachel came back into the room, perching on the coffee table in front of her.

"Hi," Rachel greeted back.

"Do you think maybe we could go to my house? To get a few things?" Santana asked.

"Sure. Sure," Rachel nodded. "Do you want to bring your car here too?" she asked.

"I guess so," Santana shrugged noncommittally and Rachel could see her walls beginning to come back up.

"Ok. Um….I don't think any of my shoes will fit you," Rachel observed, looking from her own feet to Santana's as she remembered that the girl had turned up barefoot last night.

"Whatever. I'll survive going barefoot…again," Santana replied emotionlessly. She was closing off and Rachel was starting to feel like she was treading on eggshells, like the tolerant, vulnerable Santana was about to disappear and McKinley Cheerio Santana was going to come back with a vengeance.

"Ok," Rachel said nervously, wringing her hands. "Do…do you want to go now or do you want some breakfast first?" she kicked herself a little for stuttering but she couldn't help it, Santana was making her nervous.

"May as well go now. I'm not hungry," Santana replied.

"Ok," Rachel stood up and walked through to the kitchen, Santana following quietly behind her. She gathered her keys and a coat for herself before holding a spare coat out to Santana. Santana took it and put it on, quirking her lips in the barest hint of an appreciative smile. Rachel led her out to her car and they spent the drive to Santana's in total silence. When Rachel pulled up at Santana's house a black Range Rover was parked in the driveway.

"My Dad's home," Santana said in a tight voice.

"Is that ok?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Santana replied, looking confused at the question. "But would you mind coming in? If I pack stuff to stay with you for a couple days he's going to want to know where I'm going and who I'm going to be with. I was just going to text him and let him deal with it but…," Santana trailed off, looking at Rachel slightly pleadingly.

"Sure, of course," Rachel nodded, turning the key to cut the engine. She wordlessly followed Santana up to the front door and watched as the girl retrieved the spare key and unlocked the door.

"Santana?" a man's voice called out.

"Yeah Papi," Santana sighed tiredly. "It's me."

"Are you ok?" Mr Lopez appeared in the doorway and looked taken aback at his daughter's dishevelled appearance. "What's going on? I was worried. Your phone, purse, keys, coat…everything was here and I had no idea where you were. I was about to call Britt to see if you were with her," he stepped forward and cupped Santana's face in his hands.

"I'm fine Papi. Just…had a rough night and bailed to a friend's. Sorry I should have let you know," Santana told him, wriggling to free her face. Mr Lopez seemed to spot Rachel then.

"Oh now you're Hiram Berry's daughter aren't you?" he asked, holding out his hand. "R…achel?" he guessed hesitatingly.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you sir," Rachel said politely, shaking his hand.

"Oh please, call me Rob," he told her with a smile.

"Rob," Rachel echoed obediently and he chuckled as he turned back to Santana, gently reaching out to grab her chin again.

"Papi don't," she tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he held on gently but firmly, following her movements as she twisted her head around trying to pull away. After a few moments of this, to Rachel's utter shock, Santana started to giggle, her face screwing up as she tried to fight it. "Papi quit it," she laughed.

"That's better," Mr Lopez leaned in and planted a kiss right between Santana's eyes before putting an arm around her and leading her into the kitchen, gesturing for Rachel to follow them. Rachel was quite surprised by Santana's father. She had always believed, based on rumours and Santana's behaviour at school, that her parents were probably cold, aloof and absent and spoiled her rotten to make up for it. But Mr Lopez seemed so sweet and playful and loving toward Santana. Even as she was pondering this Rachel was watching as Santana playfully shoved her Dad and he then turned and wrapped both arms around her, lifting her off the ground and swinging her back and forward in retaliation.

"Put me down!" Santana shrieked.

"Say you're sorry!" Mr Lopez ordered.

"No!" Santana refused.

"Say it," he taunted.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!" Santana gave in. Mr Lopez set her down and released her and she scowled at him before a grin broke through. "You're _so_ annoying," she informed him.

"I'm your Papi. That's my job," he told her fondly, smoothing a piece of hair he had dislodged back into place. "And one day when you have kids…It'll be my job to annoy you _and _them."

"Ass," Santana scowled again.

"You love me," he grinned goofily at her. Santana childishly stuck out her tongue and Rachel couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped her lips.

"Papi I'm going to go stay with Rachel for a couple days," Santana said abruptly, looking down at her hands.

"Well ok," he nodded. "Are you fighting with Britt?" Mr Lopez asked. Santana blanched and he put a sympathetic hand on her back. "Well that answers that," he said gently.

"We're not really _fighting_," Santana told him. "Just…we need some separation right now."

"Ok. If that's what you need," Mr Lopez soothed, rubbing her tense back.

"I'm going to go pack," Santana said, pulling away from her father's hand. "Rachel I'll meet you back at your place in an hour or so?"

"Sure," Rachel nodded.

"I'll walk you out Rachel," Mr Lopez smiled as Santana disappeared upstairs in a hurry.

"Thank you," Rachel smiled back.

"Are they ok?" he asked as they headed toward the door.

"They're having a rough patch," Rachel said evasively. "I think they'll be ok."

"I'm sorry Rachel. I shouldn't pry," Mr Lopez apologised. "She's just so closed off. She doesn't tell us anything anymore," he sighed. "I guess that's teenagers though huh," he nudged Rachel lightly and shot her a cheeky smile. Rachel laughed lightly. "You girls aren't going to get into trouble with your Dads away are you?" Mr Lopez asked seriously.

"No. No definitely not," Rachel assured him adamantly.

"Ok. I'll trust you," he nodded, opening the door for her. "Look after her for me alright? She seems pretty fragile right now," he told her worriedly.

"I will," Rachel promised.

-G-

Rachel heard Santana's car pull into the driveway just as she was dishing up macaroni and cheese for lunch. It had taken her a lot longer than Rachel had expected and she was relieved that she had come. She had half expected her to not turn up after the second hour had passed. There was a knock on the door as Rachel set a glass of apple juice next to each plate on the table. She quickly opened the front door to find Santana with a duffle bag, shuffling uneasily on the porch.

"Hey. I was getting worried," Rachel smiled.

"Sorry," Santana replied. "My Dad wouldn't stop interrogating me about my 'fight' with Brittany." Rachel took her bag and set it off to the side as Santana spoke.

"He just cares," Rachel told her as she placed a hand on her shoulder blade to lead her to the dining room.

"You didn't expect that," Santana guessed. Rachel paused a moment before continuing to lead Santana.

"I didn't really know what to expect," she answered honestly. "I guess I expected him to be a little cold and aloof. I think a lot of people at school think you're a bitch because your parents don't care."

"They're wrong. My parents are awesome. My Dad works a lot and he isn't always there but they both love me more than anything. And I love them," Santana told her. She smiled when they reached the dining room and she saw what Rachel had made. "Brittany told you to do this," she beamed.

"Yeah. She told me it always cheers you up," Rachel told her as she went to taker her own place at the table.

"Mostly because I know how hard she finds cooking. I would be cheered up by anything she cooked for me, because she cooked it for _me_," Santana explained before taking a bite.

"That's sweet," Rachel smiled back, taking a bite of her own food.

"I thought you were vegan?" Santana frowned, looking from her plate to Rachel's.

"That was kind of a phase," Rachel admitted. "I still don't eat meat of any kind but I will eat milk, cheese and eggs sometimes." Santana nodded as she chewed another mouthful of her food. They ate in relative silence after that, Santana kept her eyes on her plate and Rachel kept hers on Santana, watching the corners of her lips quirk as she picked up her apple juice to take a sip, watching the way she hummed in satisfaction as she put it back down. After a while Santana noticed her gaze and paused self-consciously with her fork halfway up to her mouth.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Rachel said quickly, looking down at her own bowl.

"You're not crushing on me over there are you Berry. 'Cause I know I'm hot and all but just no," Santana ranted, her voice vaguely defensive beneath her snark.

"No," Rachel mumbled. "I don't have a crush on you. It's just…" she trailed off.

"Just what? Spit it out! You're giving me the creeps," Santana huffed.

"I've never really seen you just being you before," Rachel said sheepishly, not looking up. Santana contemplated that for a moment before shrugging and putting more food in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed then took a sip of apple juice.

"Guess not," she replied vaguely. They slipped back into a surprisingly not awkward silence as they finished off their meals.

-G-

After they had eaten Santana insisted on helping with the dishes, even though Rachel kept telling her she was a guest and trying to shoo her out of the kitchen. Then Santana disappeared into the guest room for a little while, telling Rachel she needed some 'alone time'.

Rachel decided to curl up in her own room with some quiet music and a good book. She quickly became engrossed in the story and she didn't realise so much time was passing until she heard a quiet cough from her doorway and looked up to see Santana smirking at her from the doorway.

"You can't even stop singing when you read," she commented. "Or humming anyway."

"I was?" Rachel hadn't even realised it.

"Yep. I'm vaguely impressed with your ability to multitask," Santana told her.

"Only vaguely?" Rachel asked drily.

"Yes," Santana deadpanned. "So I had an idea…" she told Rachel, pulling her right hand out from where she had had it hidden behind the doorframe. She was holding two long slim bottles filled with something blue and Rachel groaned.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," she said warily.

"Oh come on. We don't have to get too plastered if you don't want to. Loosen up Rach. It's not going to kill you to have a little fun with a friend," Santana smiled enticingly. It was all over from there. A voice deep inside her head was telling her not to fall for it, but the lonely girl who wasn't sure she had any real friends drowned it out. Rachel couldn't find it in her to say no to someone who had just referred to themselves her friend. She had the sneaking suspicion that Santana knew that but she chose to ignore that notion and sighed.

"Yeah, ok," she told her, nodding slowly. Santana responded by giving her what was quite possibly the brightest smile she had ever seen. She got up, marking her page in her book and shut off her music as she followed Santana downstairs to the living room. She figured that at least if she was drinking with Santana then she could convince her not to get quite so drunk…

She figured wrong.

-G-


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow the number of alerts and favourites I got on the last chapter was insane! Thanks so much. I had fun writing this one, I hope it doesn't disappoint!

-G-

"What is that anyway?" Rachel asked as Santana opened one of the bottles and pulled two pink shot glasses out of her pocket.

"Galliano," Santana replied absently.

"That stuff that smelled like black liquorice?" Rachel asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Yep," Santana grinned as she opened one of the bottles and poured the blue liquid into the shot glasses.

"Santana," Rachel said hesitantly, eyeing the shot glasses.

"Yes?" Santana asked, finally turning her full attention to Rachel, one eyebrow raised and her face a picture of vague annoyance.

"I…," Rachel flushed in embarrassment.

"Spit it out Berry," Santana commanded.

"I…I've never done shots before," Rachel admitted, flushing an even darker shade of red.

"Eh, no time like the present to learn," Santana shrugged and handed her one of the shot glasses. Rachel eyed it nervously. "Don't worry. It's not like tequila or anything. It's sweet. Training wheels shot," Santana told her. Rachel hesitantly dipped her finger into the liquid then licked it. It burned a little bit going down but Santana was right; it was sweet and easy to swallow. "Cheers," Santana held her shot out and Rachel bumped hers against it. They both downed their shots, Rachel coughing a little at the burn as she swallowed hers. Santana smacked her on the back a couple of times to help her clear her throat. "See? Not so bad right?"

"No not really," Rachel replied feeling the warm burn of the alcohol flare in her stomach. She cringed as Santana refilled their glasses and handed Rachel's back. She was obviously trying to get drunk as quickly as possible. Rachel quietly did the second shot and then licked her lips before carefully broaching the topic. "Santana are you sure this is a good idea? Getting drunk isn't really a good way to deal with things-," she was stopped by Santana reaching over and gently pinching her lips closed with her fingertips.

"Ssshhhh, Berry. Drink your booze and be happy," she said gently patting Rachel's arm, her voice sounded like trouble. "We need drinking music," she announced a moment later. "Oh! Or a drinking movie!" she suggested.

"Ok," Rachel nodded. "Movies are in that cupboard," she pointed and Santana darted over to open the large cabinet door and started scanning titles.

"Oh, The Hangover!" she pulled the case out, beaming at Rachel. "Please Rachel?" she put on her best imploring face and Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the expression. It was like a human version of Puss In Boots from Shrek, all wide eyed and innocent.

"Go ahead," Rachel gestured at the TV. Santana let out a little happy squeal and turned to put the DVD on.

-G-

"But it's the wrong Doug!" Santana wailed drunkenly into Rachel's lap as Rachel petted her hair and back like she was a cat, in an attempt to calm her down.

"Bu' they find the right one soon, 'member?" Rachel slurred. "It all turns out ok," she soothed.

"But…but…they thought they found him but it was the wrong one!" Santana started wailing again, apparently not placated by Rachel's petting and reassuring. "I need a hug!" she cried. Without waiting for an answer she threw one leg over Rachel's lap, her arms around her neck and essentially plastered herself to Rachel's front, her head coming to rest on Rachel's shoulder.

"Whoa," Rachel commented, completely unprepared for that level of physical contact.

"Ssshhhut up, Berry! This is how I hug ok?! It's not weird!" Santana wailed, sniffling and hiccupping slightly afterward.

"You're ssso drunk right now," Rachel commented dreamily.

"So are you! So are you!" Santana defended herself.

"I'll have you know," Rachel grabbed Santana's upper arms and pushed her back to look at her. "That I am faaairly sssober right now," she frowned at her slurred speech. She hadn't had that much had she? When she glanced at the one empty bottle and the one two thirds full on the table she realised she may have had more than she thought.

"No! No!" Santana threw herself off Rachel's lap and face first into the cushions at the end of the couch. "I want Brittany! I _want Brittany_!" she wailed after a few moments of quiet sobbing. Rachel shifted, managed to get into a decidedly wobbly kneeling position beside the couch and started to stroke Santana's back again. Santana stopped crying a few moments later and sat up abruptly. "I'm gonna call her," she said firmly.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, S'tana. I think we might be a little inox- inox in…uh…drunk," Rachel informed her.

"I don't care!" Santana's face crumpled again and Rachel reached out intending to pet it but Santana pushed her hand away as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and clumsily tried to select Brittany's name in her contacts.

"Santana-," Rachel started but Santana threw her hand up.

"Shhh 's ringing," she had stopped crying again.

"Santana?" came a voice from the other end, somehow she had managed to hit the speaker phone option but she appeared not to notice that, holding the phone up to her ear anyway.

"Britt Britt?" Santana whimpered pathetically.

"Ugh Santana you hit the wrong button again," Quinn said exasperatedly.

"Who's this?" Santana asked, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.

"It's Quinn," Quinn sounded a bit concerned now. "Honey where are you? Are you alone?" she asked and Rachel could hear rustling on the other end of the phone that sounded like Quinn getting dressed.

"She's at my house," Rachel called out loudly.

"Rachel?" Quinn asked, confusion lacing her voice.

"Yes?!" Rachel was still yelling.

"Oh my God, you let her get you drunk didn't you?" Quinn asked, exasperation replacing concern again.

"Maybe jus' a little!" Rachel yelled back.

"Rachel stop yelling, the phone is on speaker and- Santana are you crying again?" Quinn cut herself off mid way through scolding Rachel. Santana had begun to sob the most pathetic little sobs as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"No!" she wailed in reply.

"Ssshhh it's ok," Rachel slurred, petting Santana's hands where they were now holding her phone in her lap.

"Stop petting me! I'm not a cat! I bet you like strokin' pussies don' you Berry?" Santana tried for snark but snark didn't tend to come off well when it was issued nonsensically in a drunken blubber.

"That doesn't make sense," Rachel mumbled to herself, brow creased in confusion as she tried to figure out where that conclusion had come from.

"Santana I think it's bedtime now huh?" Quinn suggested.

"No! No! I want to talk to my _Brittany_!" Santana wailed in protest.

"Santana, I don't think that's a good-," Quinn started. Santana abruptly stopped crying and her face turned to an expression of drunken annoyance

"NO! I'm hanging up now Fabray cos you and Berry both suck!" she told her.

"Ok, but how is hanging up on me going to shut Rachel up?" Quinn countered. She still sounded exasperated but now she also sounded vaguely amused.

"I don't know!" Santana replied, tone aggressive and challenging. "I'll figure it out." She said sulkily. "I'm hanging up now," she informed Quinn.

"Well ok. Drink some water before you go to sleep," Quinn told her in the most condescending motherly voice she could summon up. "Don't call Brittany until you've sobered up!"

"You're not the boss of me," Santana replied petulantly, glaring at the phone in her hand.

"Bye Santana," Quinn laughed.

"Bye Quinnie! I love you!" Santana called, her mood swinging abruptly again.

"I love you too," Quinn replied before hanging up.

"I miss Quinn," Santana said sadly about 30 seconds after she had hung up the phone.

"Me too," Rachel mused. "She was fun."

"I'm going to ring Brittany now," Santana replied excitedly.

"Ok," Rachel nodded eagerly, forgetting her earlier doubt of the soundness of that idea. Santana hit a couple of buttons, including the speaker button again, and soon the ringing tone filled the room, soon followed by the phone picking up and a voice that was definitely not Brittany's

"Santana so help me god if you are drunk dialling me while trying to call Brittany again I am going to come over there and strangle you!" Mercedes answered, extremely annoyed.

"How did that happen?" Santana asked out loud, staring drunkenly at the phone in her hand. "I don't even know how that happened.

"Oh my God!" Mercedes cried in frustration. "Girl, we have got to find your drunk ass a better system for when you want to drunk dial Britt," she stated.

"I don't even know how that happened," Santana repeated, looking absolutely perplexed.

"It happened cos you're wasted and can't work your phone," Kurt supplied dryly in the background.

"Lady Lips?" Santana queried, looking even more confused.

"That is NOT my name Santana," Kurt replied, sounding slightly offended.

"It's Kurt," Rachel supplied. "His name is Kurt."

"Well I know that," Santana told her, like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"I was just making sure," Rachel replied.

"Rachel?" Kurt called out; Mercedes had obviously put her phone on speaker now as Kurt sounded louder.

"Hey Kurt," Rachel slurred. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh my God, she corrupted you," Kurt commented dramatically.

"I'm not corr- corrupted-ed. 'M just drunk," Rachel replied.

"That much is fairly obvious," Kurt replied dryly.

"You two aren't Brittany," Santana sulked, obviously just realising that. "We're going now. Goodbye," Santana hung up before they had a chance to respond and dialled another number.

"Again Sandbags?!" came Sue Sylvester's irate voice. Santana hung up at a speed that would have been impressive had she been sober.

"Oh sshhit!" she shrieked as she did. "I am not good at this," she commented, trying again.

"Hello?" Brittany's voice finally answered, and Santana promptly burst into tears at the sound. "Santana? Honey?" Brittany said worriedly.

"I'm so glad it's yooou!" Santana wailed. "First it was Quinn and she was meeeeean! Then Mercedes yelled at me and her and Kurt were soooo confusing," she hiccupped then spluttered then sucked in a deep breath. "Then I accidently rang Coach Sylvester and she yelled at meeee and called me mean boob names again and she wasn't you either and I neeeed you!" Santana was blubbering like a baby by the time she finished her story.

"Awww honey," Brittany laughed lightly. "Well you found me now. You're ok," she soothed sweetly. Santana let out another sob and Brittany quickly hushed her. "You're ok, sweetheart, you need to drink some water," she told her. "Can you do that for me?"

"I'll get some," Rachel told Santana, attempting to stand up and only succeeding in falling on her ass. "Whoops. I think my balnance- balance is impaired," she squinted at Santana, confused.

"What does that even mean?" Santana mused, sounding worried.

"Rachel?" Brittany called out.

"Hi Brittany," Rachel called out.

"Rachel are you drunk too?" Brittany asked, her voice disapproving.

"Maybe juuuust a little," Rachel giggled, holding her hand up with her thumb and forefinger pinched about ½ an inch apart to demonstrate her drunkenness.

"You're supposed to be looking after her," Brittany scolded, which ended up setting Santana off again.

"Don't be meeeean to Rachel," she wailed. "It was my idea. It's all my fault!"

"Sssshhhhh," Rachel hushed. "It's ok," she cooed at Santana.

"Ok. I'm coming over," Brittany said decisively on the other end of the line. "I'll be there soon," she told them.

"You don' have to," Rachel slurred. "We're ok," she assured her.

"No, I'm coming over," Brittany replied as Santana started drunkenly wailing something about being all alone and single and how nobody was ever going to love her. "I'm on my way," Brittany's voice was a bit upset and it sobered Rachel a little.

"Ok," she agreed. She heard the jangle of car keys and a door open and close on Brittany's end of the line and then echoing footsteps.

"I have to go while I drive over ok?" she said gently.

"No! Britt Britt don' go. Don' go!" Santana sobbed, clutching the phone tighter to her as if that would stop Brittany from hanging up.

"Honey it's ok. I'm coming to Rachel's house ok? I'll be there in five minutes," Brittany reassured her.

"Ok," Santana said bravely, running the back of her hand over her eyes.

"Ok," Brittany repeated in her most soothing voice. "I'll see you very soon," she hung up the phone and Santana started crying yet again.

"This is getting kind of ridiculous," Rachel stated, suddenly finding Santana's wailing annoying. She hauled herself to her feet, wobbling precariously for a moment before managing to stagger out to the kitchen. She pulled two water bottles out of the fridge and went back into the living room where she found Santana snuffling pathetically as she out another movie on.

"We're watching Mean Girls," Santana informed her.

"Ok," Rachel replied. The alcohol was catching up to her now and after her wobbling, stumbling trip to the kitchen she was beginning to feel a little bit sick. Santana threw herself back onto the couch once she had painstakingly slowly put the disc into the DVD player.

"Are you ok?" Santana asked, reaching up to touch Rachel's face.

"I…I don't feel so good," Rachel admitted.

"Uh oh," Santana looked around the room helplessly. "Do you need a bucket in case you need to throw up?" she asked.

"Don't say throw up," Rachel replied, paling even more. "But yes."

"I don't know where you keep them!" Santana wrung her hands nervously. "This is my fault!" she said sadly.

"They're in the cleaning cupboard in the kitchen," Rachel told her before she could start crying again. "It's the one under the sink."

"Ok, ok. It's ok," Santana told herself as she got up and made her way unsteadily into the kitchen. She came back a few minutes later with a bucket in hand and an extremely proud look on her face. She put the bucket down next to Rachel and Rachel noticed that she had brought a roll of paper towels with her too, which she placed on the table in front of Rachel. "Ok, it's ok," Santana nodded. "You should drink some water, but SLOWLY," she emphasised. "Just sips. And watch the movie and try not to think about it," she instructed.

"Ok," Rachel mumbled miserably. Santana lifted the remote to play the movie but before she could hit the button the doorbell rang.

"Who's that?" she asked, looking baffled.

"It's probably Brittany," Rachel told her. "I think she was going to come over."

"Oh!" Santana said happily. She got up and stumbled out to the front door. "Who's there?" she called out.

"It's me, it's Brittany. Honey, let me in," Brittany instructed. Santana did as she was told and her face lit up when she saw Brittany standing on the porch in her pajamas, slippers and coat.

"Hi Britt Britt!" Santana cooed as she threw herself rather forcefully into Brittany's arms.

"Ooof! Careful Santana," Brittany scolded gently, her quick reflexes only just quick enough to steady herself and catch Santana.

"I love you Britt Britt," Santana mumbled happily.

"I think it's bed time Santana," Brittany said gently, trying to contain her reaction to Santana's drunken proclamation.

"Oh. No. No it's not. We have to take care of Rachel and watch Mean Girls," Santana shook her head at the suggestion.

"What's wrong with Rachel?" Brittany asked, prising Santana off of her to try to get a look at her face. She cringed at her swollen, red rimmed eyes and the glassy unfocussed look in them.

"She's feeling a little sick," Santana whispered.

"Oh Santana," Brittany sighed. "It's bad enough that you're drinking yourself stupid all the time, you don't need to take everyone around you down too." Brittany regretted her words as soon as they were out. Santana's face crumpled even as her eyes went wide and sad.

"I know," she whimpered as the tears began to fall. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Brittany sighed. "We'll talk about it in the morning, yeah?"

"Ok," Santana was trying her best to be brave. Brittany detached Santana from her completely and turned to close and lock the door behind her.

"Come on," Brittany took Santana's hand. "Let's go look after Rachel."

-G-

An hour or so later, Rachel and Santana had both fallen asleep on the couch, leaving Brittany to try and figure out what to do with them. She sighed deeply as she stroked Santana's head where it rested on her thigh. She really needed to get both girls to bed. She carefully lifted Santana's head, sliding out from underneath it and gently tucking a pillow underneath it before carefully setting it down again. She watched the two of them for a moment, checking that they were ok before she headed off to try and locate Rachel's room and the Berry's guest room where she assumed Santana would be sleeping. That assumption was proven correct when she found the room and saw Santana's duffle sitting beside the bed. She headed back downstairs and contemplated a moment before gently scooping Rachel up into her arms, trying not to wake her. Rachel mumbled a little but didn't wake and Brittany carefully carried her upstairs and settled her in her bed. She went back downstairs and grabbed Rachel's water, the bucket and paper towels setting the bucket on the floor and the other things on her nightstand. She smoothed Rachel's hair out of her face and tucked her in a little tighter before heading downstairs to deal with Santana.

"Wha's goin' on?" Santana slurred, voice sleep and drunk as Brittany picked her up off of the couch.

"Bed time," Brittany told her, hiking her up a little to get a better grip on her.

"I ca' walk," Santana mumbled, tucking the water bottle she was clutching against her chest.

"And I can carry you," Brittany said firmly, making her way toward the staircase.

"Mm'kay," Santana let her head drop against Brittany's shoulder as she reached the top of the stairs, her breathing a little laboured. She carried Santana into the guest room and tucked her into bed.

"Do you need a bucket?" she asked gently.

"Nuh uh," Santana shook her head.

"I'll put your water beside the bed ok?" Brittany said softly, gently prising the bottle out of Santana's hands and setting it on the nightstand.

"Thank you," Santana was almost asleep again.

"I'm going to tidy up downstairs," Brittany told her and Santana managed a slight shake of her head.

"Stay," she whispered.

"Just until you fall asleep," Brittany told her. Santana managed a nod and Brittany sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to cup Santana's cheek, stroking her thumb lightly over her cheekbone until her eyes fluttered shut and she began snoring lightly. "You're trouble Santana," she told her softly. "This kind of stuff has to stop. You're worrying me," she stroked her forehead gently with a sigh. "Night sweetheart," Brittany murmured, tucking her in tighter and turning off the light as she left the room.

She headed back downstairs, stretching her slightly aching arms (neither Rachel nor Santana was all that heavy and Brittany was fit but it had still been an effort to carry both of them up a flight of stairs) as she went. She found a cloth in the kitchen and cleaned the spilled sambuca off of the coffee table and screwed the lid back on the bottle that still had some in it. She washed the empty bottle and the shot glasses out and set all of it on the bench, unsure of what else to do with it all. She cleared away some junk food wrappers and turned the TV and DVD player off. When she was done she sat down, wondering whether she should stay or go home. She was worried about Santana. She had always had a tendency to get plastered when she was having a rough time but this was something else entirely. She was getting drunk nearly every night and now she was bringing Rachel into it too. Brittany shook her head; she couldn't help but feel responsible for all of this. After a few more minutes of contemplating she opted to stay the night on the couch so that she could take care of Santana and Rachel in the morning, and kicked off her slippers before lying down and pulling the throw off the back of the couch to snuggle up under. Despite it still being relatively early she ended up falling asleep a little while later, still worrying about Santana.

-G-


End file.
